


Say you'll never let me go

by UnicornMister



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: Angst, Gender Dysphoria, Humor, I'll add more tags later, M/M, Manipulation, Misgendering, Non-Consensual Groping, Original Characters - Freeform, Rated Explicit for later chapters, Slow Burn, Swearing, Toby is a trans male character, a little bit, minor amount, trans boys are magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2018-05-27 01:41:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6264565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornMister/pseuds/UnicornMister
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jareth's magic is failing, and he needs a way to strengthen it. Toby Williams is the babe with the power, and he may just be the key to the Goblin King's heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The way that I'm planning this fic is for it to stretch over many chapters. I've never attempted anything this big before, so it'll be an adventure.
> 
> Soundtrack by order of chapters:
> 
> Magic Dance - David Bowie
> 
> Monster (DotEXE Remix) - Meg & Dia
> 
> Enter Sandman - SHEL
> 
> Ghost - Mystery Skulls
> 
> Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Marilyn Manson
> 
> Decode - Cole Rolland, Lauren Babic

His labyrinth was dying. Jareth didn’t have to look at it to know that the magic was steadily crumbling away.

“Hobble!”

It took a few minutes for the little troll to arrive, and when he did it was with much muttering and cursing.

“Whadya want me for, Jareth?”

The Goblin King smirked and leaned back in his chair. Much as it irked him, the creature’s petulance was sort of endearing.

“Your report on the Land of Stench, Prince Hogwart. Have you noticed anything strange?” Jareth purposefully left his question vague. He wanted to know how apparent the damage was, especially to such a little nitwit of a troll.

Hoggle shifted his weight and avoided looking Jareth in the eyes.

“Er, well, nothing _unusual_ per se. Bog’s doin’ what it does, ya know. What with the stench and all. Smells just as bad as ever—”

Hoggle would’ve kept rambling if Jareth didn’t raise his hand and stop him.

“You’re avoiding my question.”

The statement was enough to lock Hoggle in place. So the small creature _did_ know something after all. He feared Jareth’s wrath, and rightfully so, but it wasn’t needed in this instance. The Goblin King told him as much.

After some hesitance, the troll answered him.

“The magic’s been gettin’ weak, Jareth. Not only what I been seein’, but I can feel it also.”

Hoggle shrunk in on himself as though he still expected to be reprimanded for daring to imply that the king’s magic was weak. Much as he wanted to lash out, Jareth held himself back. He had summoned the troll to him for a reason.

“Do you remember Sarah, Hogin?”

Used to the king’s purposeful butchering of his name, Hoggle was thrown off for an entirely different reason. Jareth could see that much, and he used the silence to press his advantage.

“More importantly, do you remember the child she wished I would take? That was the purpose of her visit, after all. She wanted him back.”

Hoggle nodded after a pause.

“Yeah, I remember ‘im. Wouldn’t stop cryin’, that one. Why, what’s he got to do with the magic?”

Jareth smiled, but there was no warmth to it. His pointed incisors showed, and it made him look like the King of Goblins that he was.

“Pay him a visit for me. We've got some catching up to do.”


	2. Monster

_Monster, how should I feel?_

_Creatures lie here_

_Looking through the window._

Vague shapes closed in on him like a noxious gas. Gray, glistening eyes and needle teeth. One held him, but it was sun bright where the others were smudges. This one cooed at him, and he remembers feeling cotton warm, the way that lavender smells. Then there’s a sharp ledge and he’s falling, except the floor rolls away and there’s just nothing.

Toby came to consciousness with his shirt stuck to his back and his pulse staccato-beating through him. He rubbed the crumbs from his eyes and blinked in the dusky light of his room. Untagling himself from his sheets, he left his room and closed himself in the bathroom across the hall. Not wanting to bother his sensitive eyes with sudden light, he felt his way through the dimness and dropped his shorts, sat on the toilet and waited for his stream to stop. Once done, he wiped and pulled his clothes back up, then flushed.

Gripping the edge of the sink, Toby stared at his darkened reflection. He was so tired, and it showed under his eyes, in the set of his mouth. His face was rounder than he would’ve liked, making him look younger than his 15 years. Long lashes and full lips didn’t help his case either. He sniffed at what he saw and was about to turn away when he caught movement in the corner of his eye. Two pairs of eyes, his own and another’s stared back at him. Toby gasped and turned, but there was nothing in the corner, not even when he hit the lightswitch and flooded the room with sudden light.

He kept his eyes so wide that they burned and held as still as he could, the only sound his rapid breathing. When nothing moved, he threw open the door and retreated back to the safe haven of his room. He was about to disappear back under his covers when he saw something that hadn’t been there before.

A clear crystal ball, just about the size of his palm rested on his sheets. The longer he looked at it, the more compelled he felt to touch it. This ball was meant for him. It sung to the energy humming under his fingertips, twitching to feel the cool surface of the crystal. But if he gave in to that urge, something momentous and irreversible would happen. He wet his lips and reached forward, ready for whatever strange consequences would occur. Holding his breath, he touched his skin to the smooth crystal and waited for something to happen. Frowning, he picked up the ball and peered into it.

Nothing had changed.

Blowing out his breath, Toby was ready to go back to bed and forget his disappointment when he saw that his bed was no longer there. Looking around, he realized that he wasn’t in his bedroom anymore. He was in his dream. Just being here brought his memories to the forefront of his mind with a stinging clarity. The dark colors, the dank smell, and the cold stones beneath his bare feet. Toby dropped to his knees in front of the image that held him in his dreams, the Goblin King.


	3. Into The Labyrinth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why this chapter was so difficult to write, but here it is finally. I'd like to thank my partner and Bonnie for their late night plot and character discussions with me, as well as their infallible support. Puppy as well, for giving me much needed encouragement. And of course, I'd like to thank you, Reader. You put value to the effort in my words. Thank you all.

_Hush little baby, don't say a word_  
_And never mind that noise you heard_  
 _It's just the beasts under your bed_  
 _In your closet, in your head_

_…_

_Exit light, enter night_

_Take my hand_

_We’re off to never-never land_

Jareth regarded the sniffling boy in front of him. He hadn’t made a sound upon arrival, just dropped his shins to the stones lining the floor of his throne room. (Jareth wouldn’t admit it, but he did have a _slight_ preference for making dramatic and lasting impressions.) The boy, not even in his sixteenth year, only stared at him, gray eyes waiting. Jareth clenched his teeth. Of course this boy, this _babe_ would already be two steps ahead of him, already seeing past the futility of screams or wild panic. No, he was smart enough to show his obeisance, (whether intentional or from lack of strength, it didn’t matter) and now he waited on Jareth to make the first move. How _fucking clever_.

“Hello Toby,” he decided to be done with formalities first.

The boy below him blinked and presumably processed his words, but didn’t offer any of his own. Cold sweat ran from the fine hairs on Jareth’s neck, and he shifted in his seat, the very one he had held Toby in fourteen years ago.

“I suppose you’re wondering what you are doing here? Well.” He snapped his lips. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” His sneer dripped from his voice, but Jareth took great pains to hide it from his features. His ace was in his sleeve here, and he had to take care not to reveal it.

His needling worked, as it jerked Toby back until he was in a standing position. His spell of silence broken, his only trouble was in deciding which question to form first. Taking a chance, Jareth decided to strike first.

He rose and stepped from his pedestal, still platformed over the human below him. “And now you’re wondering why this place feels familiar. It’s an itch at the back of your brain, but you can’t quite seem to grasp it.” Jareth summoned a glass orb, not unlike the one he had used to transport Toby to the Underground. He toyed with it between his fingers almost idly, bored with the simple movements he had memorized years ago.

The boy caught every move, his eyes trained on the reflective object. “I know what that is. It was sitting on my bed, and then I held it when I…” His gaze snapped to the man before him. “Give it back. That’s mine, it’s what got me here.”

Jareth tutted and raised a gloved finger. He couldn’t contain his smile this time. What _nerve_. “Toby, if you were a cat you’d be dead by now. That crystal wasn’t yours to begin with, but this one _can_ belong to you.” He raised his eyebrow, his voice reproachful. “This is a Wish. With it, you could have anything. Anything that you want, you need only wish for it and it will be yours. But,” here he moved the ball, and like a trained dog, Toby’s attention followed. “Like any Magical token, it has to be earned.”

Though focused, the boy remained quiet. Jareth wanted him to ask, wanted to have him slavering in the palm of his hand. _In time. The boy will be yours in time_ , he reminded himself with an outward breath. Even caught in an unknown world, Toby remained proud and cunning, something that his sister had not been.

“As for the matter of _how_ the Wish is to be earned,” Jareth’s voice rang in the vacant stone room. “You must complete my Labyrinth.” Here his Magic expanded, and he transported them to the Wastelands.

Toby’s eyes blew wide at the sudden change in his surroundings, but otherwise he remained unfazed, aside from the faint tremors in his gangly frame. The Goblin King hissed under his breath.

“Find your way to my castle alive, and you may have your Wish. However, all of this can be avoided.” He grabbed Toby’s chin, forcing his attention as if he couldn’t get enough of it. “All I ask is for your partnership, marriage, if you will. Join me, and you will want for nothing.” Watching as closely as he was, Jareth couldn’t miss the way that Toby’s eyes flickered at that. He saw the uncertainty and allowed it.

“Marriage? Why do you want to marry _me_? Or I guess, why should I marry _you_?” He pursed his pink lips, a perfect bow of confusion.

Jareth loosened his grasp. Forcibly made a conscious effort to gentle his touch, otherwise he’d crush the jaw of this child in his frustration. And of course, that would get him exactly nowhere. His thumb swept the line of the bone, a perfect little thing that could fit in his palm.

“Think of all that I could give you, Tobias. Of course I wouldn’t keep you here against your will, but do you really want to return to your life as you knew it? Why settle for one small change, when you could rule in my kingdom alongside me. I would make you a _King_ , because you are special. Exceptional, and you know it.”

Toby swallowed. “How did you know…never mind.” He shook his head, deciding against asking how Jareth knew Toby’s unshortened name. Not even his parents knew his full chosen name. But that wasn’t what he wanted to know most at the moment. His tongue darted out and moistened his lips. “If I stay here with you, then I can’t ever go back…can I?”

Jareth’s neck twitched. He shook his head, just once. “Let me put it this way: why would you want to? You would receive love and acceptance here, even adoration. And all you have to do is say yes.”

It was enough. The delicious, big apple of an idea that Jareth was spinning was enough to make Toby consider leaving his entire life behind. Because in reality, what did he have above ground? Sure his family loved him, but that was because they were his family. That didn’t mean that they didn’t hurt him constantly with their misplaced well-intentions and their own guilt. The only reason he got out of bed in the morning was out of sheer stubbornness. He flat out refused to be beat down so far that he wouldn’t want to pick himself back up.

He had nothing worth staying for, but was he willing to give it all up for a stranger and his vague promises? Even though Toby was only fifteen, he still knew not to take anything at face value, especially from a magical man he just met. He’d been let down enough times to know that.

Wringing his shirt between his fingers, Toby made his decision and began marching forward.

 Men and their promises be damned.


	4. Unexpected

_'Cause the world might do me in_  
It's alright 'cause I'm with friends  
Guess I'm giving up again  
It doesn't matter

One thing that Toby hadn’t accounted for was the cold. Walking through the Wastelands was like sticking his bare feet on the insides of a refrigerator. Somehow when he imagined magical lands they seemed to be at a more comfortable temperature than this.

Gripping his upper arms, he rubbed the skin there to try to generate some measure of warmth. In only his tee shirt and boxer shorts, Toby wished that he was somewhat more prepared for this giant undertaking that he had decided to take on while still half asleep.

Also, _what the fuck just happened?_

Before he could cringe from his stupidity, Toby’s foot caught on a stone and he stumbled. Hissing from the pain, he spat and swore. There was a bleeding scrape on his toe now and he had to find some way to clean it.

“Ey boy, keep it down will ya? I got kids ‘round here.”

Toby’s head snapped up at the sound of a voice, but no one was standing there. The hell, this place was messing with his head already.

“No, not _up_ here. Down here.”

He adjusted his direction and found a small worm thing (caterpillar maybe?) with a shock of blue hair. He wanted to be surprised, but this early into his journey he thought it more expedient to accept the oddities as they came to him.

“Ello!” said the worm.

Toby tilted his head, then remembered his resolve. “…Hello?”

The worm shook its blue head. “No no no, I said Ello, not hello. That’s my name!”

“Oh, uh sorry. I’m Toby.”

“Great, come and meet the missus! She just put on a pot.”

“I don’t know, I don’t…I really should be on my way.” Resolve aside, he wasn’t sure he should be accepting anything consumable from this place. That was a rule of magic, right? Don’t eat anything or you won’t be able to leave, or maybe there was some sort of curse involved.

“S’alright. ‘Sides, bet you’d like to warm up. Missus got the fire goin’ just right.”

The worm hadn’t even finished his sentence before Toby gave in to basic need.

He couldn’t see it now through the stone walls and mist, but in the heart of the labyrinth Jareth’s castle stood silent. It had waited this long; it could stand to wait a little longer.

…

As it turned out, the residence of one Mr. Ello was a dead tree stump sitting a few yards away along the path. As he walked towards it the stone walls to either side of him seemed to stretch towards the sky. The stump was supposed to grow as he approached, but surely not this much? In any case he could now fit through the worm friendly doorway with Ello behind him.

In terms of hospitality, Ello and his interspecies family didn’t disappoint. The missus turned out to be some variant of a field mouse, whose name honestly was Missus. The children came in a large squeaking tumble, and though Toby was introduced to all of them, after they had all been introduced, only one child stood out to him. Marie was the last to greet him, and she did so only after a long moment of looking him over. She didn’t leave his side, though. Not while he ate or rested by the fire, but when Missus found him some clothes to change into he was firm on privacy.

            Marie sniffed at his boots and blinked up at him. He snuck a hand under his shirt and sweater and tugged at the spare piece of cloth he’d used to bind his chest. “Well M, what do you think?”

She twitched her nose. “I think you’ll need my help if you want to survive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe it's almost been a year since I've updated. I'm the worst, etc. I certainly would've taken a lot longer if it hadn't been for BlackHellKitty. Bless her and my partner, who've given me major ideas and support. Thanks to them I'll hopefully get the next chapter up sooner.


	5. Under the Banyan

_Some of them want to use you_

_Some of them wanna get used by you_

_Some of them want to abuse you_

_Some of them want to be abused_

He strode over the smooth stones. When he was younger they would catch at his bare toes, but tonight the soles of his shoes step with confidence on their surface.

The king doesn’t slip, because if he does, he will fall.

Fear motivates him until he’s outside, right at the ledge of his castle. There’s a drop about a mile long just half a foot away from him, but Jareth isn’t afraid of that. Sweat sits cool under his hairline for another reason as he folds himself among the roots of the Banyan tree that’s anchored itself to the rock through centuries of hard-assed will. It too is dying.

He conjures his familiar, the half of his soul that he uses to travel between worlds. She comes awake with a shake of her feathers and scattering of matter. The barn owl cannot talk, but she tilts her head up to him from where she’s perched on his knee and waits. Jareth smiles, feels a sliver of warmth at the memories his companion brings. It took him ages of sleep-deprived nights to learn how to conjure his animal form and keep her separate from himself. Now it barely takes a twist of his mind and fingers. He feeds her a portion of meat he had kept aside from his nightly meal.

“The boy is here, Juniper. He’s entered the Labyrinth.”

She bobs her head and swallows the meat, then waits. She already knows this.

He looks to the horizon as if he could spot the boy between the miles of wall that separate them.

“He will be my undoing, fae. I can feel it. And yet I need him to unlock…” He clutches at his chest as if to check for signs of life. “Doesn’t matter anyway. If he fails, we will all cease to exist,” he says as he runs his finger over her downy plumage. She hoots soft encouragement to him.


	6. The Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for misgendering and non-consensual groping.

_You think that I can’t see_

_What kind of man that you are_

_If you’re a man at all_

_I will figure this one out_

_On my own_

 

“I’m hungry,” Marie squeaked. She trotted on the flagstones below Toby, her small feet a blur as they worked to keep up with his much larger gait.

It felt like they had been walking for hours, but this place was probably screwing with his perception of time. He had no way of knowing. His own stomach tightened with hunger, so now was as good of a time as any for lunch. He picked an alcove that would give them a bit of shade for their meal and dropped to the ground with his back against the wall, pulling off the small pack that Missus had the foresight and grace to provide them with.

Gnawing on a torn off piece of bread that Toby had handed her, Marie’s whiskers shivered. She felt it a second before it happened, the shift of reality that blinked something into existence where it hadn’t been before. What was once a blank wall to their left now held a pair of identical oak doors, the only difference being that the one on the right was slightly ajar, blown into motion by a lazy burst of wind.

Toby jerked back, knocked his head on stone from the force of his surprise. “Ow, goddamnit!”

Marie shoved the remainder of her meal in her mouth and went to the open door, nose quivering as she took in all the new information of it. There was a heavy feline stink about the area that made her fur bristle. She ignored it and instead poked her small head through the opening. “Toby!”

He was already behind her, excited by the glimpse he could get of turrets and spirelets peeking over castle walls. Could it really be this easy, the answer just giving itself to them after only a few hours of searching? Too fatigued with only half a sandwich in his gut, Toby didn’t pause long enough to consider his decision and instead stepped over the threshold.

His foot never made contact with the flagstone, as the ground vanished from under him and he fell.

Hands caught him and his scream stuck in his throat. Snatched from mid-fall, several had a hold on his limbs, one in his armpit and another in the bend of his knee.

“Marie!”

The dark depth yawned up at him, and he could barely pick out the mouse’s shape at the ledge several yards above him. Laughter echoed from the walls around him, the things that held him vibrating as if from amusement.

“Been a while since we got any company, eh Todd?” A disembodied voice asked. From what Toby could see of the dark shapes, several hands had formed together to make a crude amalgamation of a face.

A group by his head came together and answered the other’s question. “Bout right, Bill. Last one we had come down this way was a girl, kinda looked like this one eh?”

Toby’s heartrate picked up and he jerked in the hands’ grasp, but they held tight to him. “I’m not a girl, let me go!”

This time a voice answered from below him. “Easy there, eh? We’re Helping Hands, supposed to get ya to where ya need to go. ‘Sides if we let go, not much help if you’re turned into a squash bug.”

There was a collective chuckle that pricked up the fine hairs on his spine.

“I don’t know,” a reedy voice spoke up, and the hand in his armpit shifted its hold to encompass his right breast. “Feels like a girl to me.”

More hands appeared to confirm the other’s statement, gripping and prying all over his skin. One slid along his inner thigh and rubbed the crotch of his shorts, fingers skimming over his soft inner folds. The hand crowed its victory in analysis, squeezing its newfound answer.

“Fuck! Get the fuck off,” Toby screeched. He was riding the edge of hysteria, thrashing and testing the mobility of his limbs when a wailing started up. A small gray form was jumping from hand to hand, wherever it landed the appendage grasping him let go, squealing in pain.

Soon Toby was falling again, bumping against hands and walls until soft dirt broke his fall. It didn’t feel soft at all when he landed, and the last thing he saw was Marie’s face pinched in concern before the world went black.


End file.
